? next month? next year? next what? and if not us, who in this world will demand action to protect americans? joining me now is u.s. senator dick durbin of illinois. i want to read something from you which is very impressive and it's in the op-ed pages of "the chicago tribune." quote, what holds us back are political organizes that are well-funded, well-organized, and determined to resist even reasonable limb tathss. there's a close political parallel between the gridlock in washington on dealing with our economy and national debt and the eerie silence in congress as the list of horrific gun crimes grows by the day. senator durbin, thank you. i know you have got a good heart on this as well as a good head about fiscal matters. what's wrong with the congress when it comes to protecting, ensuring the domestic tranquility? >> well, there's a legitimate concern about our second amendment, chris. you understand that part. but there's also a very strong political force that is trying to push forward, primarily for the dealers and manufacturers h an agenda that will sell more firearms and

of these imperatives. an act of omission that would leave us open to foreign attack and invasion. tragically, we can't say the same about attacks on the country's domestic tranquility. what has the congress done to protect the country? nothing. and here's the question. when will we refuse as citizens to settle for, accept, live with a congress that fails to act in the face of such a demonstrated? if not now, after this, when? next week? next month? next year? next what? and if not us, who in this world is going to demand action to protect americans? joining me now is u.s. senator dick durbin of illinois. i want to read something from you which is very impressive, and it's in the op-ed pages of "the chicago tribune." quote, what holds us back are political organizations that are well-funded, well-organized, and determined to resist even reasonable limitations. there's a close political parallel between the gridlock in washington on dealing with our economy and national debt and the eerie silence in congress as the list of horrific gun crimes grows by the day. senator durbin, thank you. i know you hav

still have the power when we choose to use it. the more accurate reflection of the america in the 21st century, the key question becomes in 2013 whether or not this coalition will find ways to work together to lefage that electoral power for policies on immigration reform, gun control, equal rights, economic inequality and continuing to expand the american story. so what matters most is what happens next because it's up to us to make sure that the power we loan to politicians is used for the greatest good, and it's up to us to make them earn our votes and hold them accountable when they falter. thanks to the bashir team. the "hardball" team picks things up right now. >>> deal or no deal. let's play "hardball." ♪ >>> good evening. i'm richard wolffe in for chris matthews. big numbers get thrown around at times like this in washington. as the legendary everett dirksen once said, a billion here a billion there, pretty soon you're talking real money, about you this debate isn't just about the billions here and there. for average families the payroll tax cut that started two years ago is

for those of us who have been watching politics for years to see a speaker of the house fail so miserably to win support for his own measure. so that means the president is really not negotiating with anybody who can really make a deal. he can't cover any check that he'd write at the oval office. i've said all along the real issue is whether boehner can bring along his caucus for anything. he really can't and it puts everything in a tough position. but the president does end up with a more reasonable upper hand. i think jared is right. >> but the other thing i would just alert you to is, once they get through this, i think what happened last night and what's happening this week is really a bad, a bad omen for what the republicans might try to do once again on the debt ceiling in january or february. >> president obama argued tonight that both parties can agree taxes for the middle class cannot go up. let's watch what he said. >> in ten days, we face a deadline. even though democrats and republicans are arguing about whether those rates can go up for wealthest individuals, all of us agree

people join the nra because they have to in order to use the shooting range. >> yeah, they're showing that the dues now from supporting the nra amounts to less than half of their revenue at this stage. >> yes, a lot of this money is coming from the gun industry. and as i say, a few die-hard adherents, people who do not want to compromise at all. >> richard painter, gets the last word. thank you for joining us. >> thank you very much. >>> good evening, i'm in for chris matthews. leading off tonight, fiscal cliff hanger. president obama calls on congress to act after christmas on a scaled down deal that would spare the middle class from tax hikes on the first of the year. >> we've heard plenty of people calling for new gun control laws, but very little from the national rifle association until now. in a bizarre news conference that was interrupted twice by protesters, the head of the nra. it's the same line we've heard before from the nra, but has the country's relationship with guns fundamentally changed since newtown? and what we saw last night from house republicans is yet another sy

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